Sunday, April 14, 2013

A North Carolina
veteran has been awarded a Purple Heart 45 years after he was wounded in
Vietnam.

The AshevilleCitizen-Times reportedFriday
that U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-North Carolina, presented Dockie Brendle his third
Purple Heart during a special afternoon ceremony at the Charles George VA
Medical Center.

Friday, April 12, 2013

The story of Catholic Chaplain Emil Kapaun is
unbelievably inspiring. Please read about this remarkable American soldier below.

What is equally unbelievable is how long it took for Captain Kapaun to
be honored.

It is also reported that the Vatican is considering
sainthood.

****

ARMY CHAPLAIN GIVEN POSTHUMOUS MEDAL OF HONOR

Fox News

April 11, 2013

President Barack Obama
awarded the Medal of Honor Thursday to an Army chaplain from Kansas who risked
his life dodging gunfire to provide medical and spiritual aid to wounded
soldiers before dying in captivity more than 60 years ago during the Korean
War.

"I can't imagine
a better example for all of us, whether in uniform or not in uniform, a better
example to follow," Obama said after presenting the nation's highest
military award for valor to a nephew of Capt. Emil Kapaun during a ceremony in
the White House East Room.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

I’ve got to tell you that retirement isn’t all it’s cracked
up to be – especially when you’ve spent your entire life with a Type A personality.
Being either a military man or a cop has occupied most of my time since I first
left home for the Citadel at age 18. Since then, it’s been hard just to fit all
the adventures into one lifetime.

Now I’m no longer running patrols or dodging bullets in the jungles of Vietnam.
I’m not on a plane making a crash landing in Vung Tau. I’m not on a C130
getting ready for a parachute jump. The convoys along Route Irish in Baghdad
are over. I’ll never again stand in Nebuchadnezzar’s palace in Babylon, Iraq. I’m
not a street crimes officer on a robbery stakeout. I’m not a detective interviewing
some suspect trying to get him to confess. I’m not a patrol officer doing a
felony stop. I’m not chasing a burglar or car thief through alleys and
apartment complexes. I’m not wrestling with a shoplifter. I’m not looking over
the top of my Glock at a guy who just pulled a knife on me. These experiences are all in the past.

Life is very, very tame at 64.

The good part is that my wife Debbie and I get to spend most
of our time together instead of apart. She doesn’t have to worry about me
getting shot by some street thug or ambushed by terrorists. I don’t have to
deal with scumbags, cope with the deaths of both good guys and bad guys, and it’s
no longer necessary to put up with the political horse manure in the military
and law enforcement communities.

We’ve traveled some, and we’ll travel more. But the last three
years since my retirement have been mostly a time of adjustment. The big
adventures may be over, but the small adventures will be of our own making. We
went to Idaho and Montana last year. This year it may be Mount Rushmore or
perhaps the Alamo and Tombstone. We’ll figure it out.

Regardless, my greatest blessing from God has been to
live the last forty years of my life alongside my wonderful wife. Debbie and I are walking down the far
side of the hill of life together, and we shall deal with whatever obstacles we may
encounter - as we always have. After all, life is all about enjoying the good times in between the
bad times.

LINK: Read "My Last War: A Vietnam Veteran's Tour in Iraq" - The story of The C.O.B.R.A. Team

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The above painting is titled "Dear Mr. President." It was completed by artist Ashley Lauren. The painting depicts Charles Grist as an old soldier in Iraq in 2004 and his reflection in the Vietnam wall when he was a much younger soldier in Vietnam. She presented it to Grist in 2011.

Link to the American Ranger PRIVACY POLICY

The Perdiccas Scroll

The first Miles Cannon Mystery

The Emperor's Cross

Book 2 of the Miles Cannon Mysteries

"American Ranger" by Charles M. Grist

I am a retired Army Ranger, a veteran of Vietnam and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and a retired police officer with experience in patrol operations, as a plainclothes street crimes officer, and as a criminal investigations detective.